Inheritance
by Incubabe
Summary: *FINAL CHAPTER UP - COMPLETE* Connor comes up against a mystical force he never imagined.... and they want him. (Features characters from Teenage Wasteland)
1. Chapter One

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone but Allie; everything else belongs to Joss & the WB.

Author's Note: For a full background on Allie's character and her arrival at Angel Investigations; read Teenage Wasteland!! (I want the reviews!)

Chapter One

He stalked up and down the silent alleyway, his senses attuned to everything around him; the shadow of the rubbish bags, the rustle of a stray cat and the very faint scent of blood. He had emptied the alley of vampires the night before, saving a homeless kid in the process, but occasionally a few wanderers returned; no such luck tonight. It was almost two and the city was dead, the clubs and bars would be emptying soon and he knew it was an easy pick up spot for lazy vamps, picking off drunks was hardly a challenge. He turned on his heel and ran out into the street, heading for the nearest bar. He was desperate for some action, anything to alleviate the numbing boredom of the early hours.

He crouched down in the shadows across the street as the bar emptied, the alcoholics and the owners were the only people left but blood was blood no matter who the supplier was. He watched and waited anxiously as two young guys approached the pretty girl who was too wasted to even stand let alone light her cigarette. To the casual observer, they were just a couple of guys trying to get lucky and take advantage of her drunken state; LA had seen weirder things but he saw the big picture; these guys wouldn't be buying her breakfast, she would be breakfast. His heart raced as they laughed and chatted with her, leading her up the alley at the side of the building. He began to cross the street, relishing the feeling of his blood rising as he clenched and unclenched his fists. Maybe he had found some action after all.

The girl had realised something was wrong, he could hear the fear rising in her drunken mumblings but he knew that wouldn't stop them. They both saw him as he rounded the corner; the girl fell to her knees with relief when they let her go and began to walk towards him.

"You lookin' for something, man?" asked one of them, looming threateningly. He started to smile, throwing the vamps off their game for a second allowing the girl to shake herself off and run.

"Trouble," he shrugged; the same grin on his face as he kicked one of them in the head, sending him flying as his partner grabbed him from behind. He had definitely found some action.

He crept in silently through the open window and closed it behind him. He sat down on the chair in the corner and pulled his shoes off; he stretched his legs out in front of him and rubbed at his aching muscles. He stood up and pulled off his t-shirt and jeans, throwing them onto the chair. He sighed softly, running a hand through his hair and feeling the sticky warmth of his blood from the gash just above his eye. He wiped the blood away with his hand and quietly walked across the room, slowly pulling the covers back from his bed. He slid in, smiling in triumph until the girl he thought was sleeping turned over to face him.

"That's the third time this week I've woken up without you," she whispered sleepily, resting a hand lazily on his arm. He turned onto his side to face her and smiled.

"I know," he sighed. "I'm sorry,"

"You don't have to be sorry, Connor," she yawned. "You wanna talk about anything?"

"Not particularly," he frowned, running his hand through her pale blonde hair. She gently touched the bleeding cut on his forehead, he winced at the pain, it was stinging enough on its own.

"You sure? You do know you're bleeding again,"

"Allie, don't start this again. It was two vamps, not the end of the world," He felt guilty despite knowing he had done nothing wrong; he had saved a girl's life tonight.

"I just hate waking up knowing you've just sneaked out of the window, it's crazy. You can't save the world on your own; you can't always be there,"

"I can try though," he said. Allie looked up at him and sighed. "I love it, Al. It's the one thing I'm good at,"

"You don't do it for the fight, Connor; you do it for the pain. You don't think you've won unless you've got the scars to prove it,"

"That's who I am; it's the way a warrior works,"

"Not here. You have to realise that you're not in Quor-Toth anymore, you're not the goddamn Destroyer," she growled and turned away from him.

"That's not what this is about," he said a little too loudly but he was mad and exasperated that he couldn't find the right words to explain himself. Against her better judgment, Allie turned over to face him again.

"Really?" she said incredulously. "So you really believe that?"

"Yeah, I do. I just want to make a difference and I don't see what that has to do with Quor-Toth or anything else about my past," he said, Allie's eyes were filled with thunder and he was worried that she might slap him at any moment. "So, can we change the subject? I haven't seen you all day, what've you been up to?"

"Fine, we can drop it," she said, her eyes softening slightly as Connor put his arm around her and pulled her closer. "I've been training all day, Wes had me in the basement all morning practising different fighting techniques then Gunn taught me how to use the crossbow properly,"

"Did you break anything else?" laughed Connor, Allie smiled.

"Only Angel's mug… but it was empty."

"So you're settling in okay? Because if you want to, we can move out, I never really expected you to just get on with everybody but… I don't know,"

"Everything's fine, everyone is being so nice to me. I thought they'd be really weird what with my father being who he is and stuff but it's nice, it feels like having a family," smiled Allie. "Thank you for bringing me home with you,"

"You should know that I bring all the pretty girls home," he laughed, Allie giggled and slapped him lightly on the arm. "No, seriously, it's not like we're all the best guys in the world. Everyone's done something they're ashamed of so don't even think about your father; it doesn't define you,"

"I know that but it's just really hard to get used to the idea of living for me again. I don't think I've done what I wanted since I was about fifteen, Frankie always made sure I followed the prophecy,"

"Just don't think about it, it's all over now," soothed Connor.

"I know, forget it… Wes seemed really distracted today; I don't know what's going on with him right now,"

"Probably nothing, he's been weird for weeks now," explained Connor. "Well, it sounds as though you've had a very eventful day. Much better than me and Dad, we couldn't find that demon thing Cordy saw in her vision but I'm sure something'll turn up,"

"It always does," yawned Allie. Connor kissed the top of her head and removed his arm, turning into her body and laying his head on her shoulder, closing his eyes. "Night,"

"Night," he mumbled, kissing her shoulder before turning over again.

"Connor?" whispered Allie, Connor groaned in response but didn't turn over. Allie leaned over him, her face buried in his neck just below his ear. "You think you could stay in tomorrow night?"

"I think I could arrange that," he smiled and pulled her hand down, kissing it before letting her drape herself over him; they both fell asleep immediately.


	2. Chapter Two

Chapter Two

Cordelia blearily opened her eyes and cursed her unlined curtains, the sun shone through the fabric as if it didn't even exist making sure that she was up with the sun every morning. She stumbled out of bed and wrapped herself in her dressing gown, slipping into her fluffy pink slippers and briefly considered which day she should go out and buy new curtains. She shuffled down the staircase, heading straight for the kitchen and wishing you could inject coffee. As usual, Angel was sitting at the table fully dressed as if waiting for her. She walked straight past him and flicked the switch on the coffee machine; caffeine came first at this time of the morning.

"Have you just come in?" she yawned, still standing over the machine and willing it to speed up her first hit of the day.

"Yeah," said Angel, leaning back in his chair. "It was really quiet last night; the streets are practically empty,"

"Hey, maybe we finally killed all the bad guys," smiled Cordelia sarcastically, Angel smiled softly. "Just a thought,"

Cordelia poured herself a large mug of thick black coffee and stirred half a teaspoon of sugar into it, her early morning treat. The smell filled the kitchen and revived her almost immediately; she sat down at the table and took a hot, tongue-burning mouthful.

"Connor was out last night," said Angel, breaking the silence between them. "Alone,"

"That's good. I don't think Allie's ready… oh, that's not what you meant, is it?"

"I'm trying to respect his privacy and do the right thing but it's dangerous out there, he should go out with Gunn or me; not alone,"

"Angel, " sighed Cordelia. "He's perfectly capable of dealing with the dangerous alone, you taught him everything you know and he had some tricks of his own before that. There's no need to worry,"

"I know," he smiled. "Father's job to worry, I guess. I'm glad Allie's here though, she has a calming influence on him, I like her,"

"Yeah, she's fitting in well. It's nice having another girl around the place,"

Angel nodded in agreement, he had been concerned about Allie's background when Connor first brought her back to the Hyperion but her enthusiasm and total openness forced back the worries. She helped Fred with reading ancient demon texts, Gunn had taught her how to fight hard and dirty while Wesley couldn't stop praising her speedy learning and the skills she had acquired so quickly.

"Must be nice having Connor back though,"

"It is, but it's not just him. You and Lorne and Wesley too, it feels like a family again,"

"Yeah," grinned Cordelia. "We are kinda great,"

"No, you need to keep your elbow and shoulder locked or you'll dip the sword," instructed Wesley. "Try and keep it steady, do it again,"

Allie nodded and returned to her starting position before following the exact choreographed sequence Wesley had set out for her. She felt like the girl in Crouching Tiger only nowhere near as good, the sword was too heavy but she locked her shoulder and held it up anyway. She would have preferred to be wielding a crossbow or Gunn's hunting axe but she didn't want to disappoint Wesley, he had taught her so much since her arrival and she felt that she owed it to him to learn swiftly and proficiently. She lifted the sword and spun with it, plunging the blade into thin air before withdrawing and spinning it over her head and stabbing behind.

Across the room, behind the reception counter, Connor and Fred were pretending to be working but were both watching Allie and Wesley sword fighting. Connor flicked lazily through an Aramaic book that he couldn't even read while Fred tapped the keys of her laptop idly. There was nothing to do, Angel was sleeping, Cordelia had gone curtain shopping and nobody knew where Gunn and Lorne had sneaked off to.

"So, how are things with you and Allie?" asked Fred, Connor raised an eyebrow and ignored the question. "C'mon Connor, I'm so bored. You gotta give me something,"

"Okay, things are fine," he sighed, pausing for a moment. "I guess,"

"What do you mean?" asked Fred, turning from her laptop to face Connor. He looked over at Allie and Wesley, making sure they couldn't hear him.

"Well, I'm not sure; I haven't really done this before… y'know, the dating thing. Anyway, we keep having these little fights over nothing at all and it's driving me crazy. I mean, how are we supposed to get on if we're always fighting?"

"Connor, that's what relationships are. I think there's something wrong if things are perfect all the time,"

"I figured that but what if it's not? I think she still blames me for killing her sister. She said we were in it together but it was her sister,"

"I know it must be hard knowing that you did that to her but you should just give her some time," said Fred, still a little shocked that she was giving Connor advice. "It took me a really long time to leave Pylea behind me and get on with life here but I did it eventually. I just needed a bit of time and some help from my friends,"

"How much time?"

"It depends; give her as much as she needs. Are you sure it's her that has the problem over this though; maybe you're just feeling guilty for killing someone. It doesn't mean she holds you responsible if you're holding yourself responsible,"

"Maybe," he sighed, looking across at Allie. She was walking over to the weapons cabinet to replace her sword, her and Wesley had obviously finished. Connor smiled as she rushed over and perched on his lap, he moved his arms around her waist to steady her before kissing her shoulder.

"Were you watching?" she asked excitedly. "Wes says I'm almost ready to start fighting the real demons,"

"Maybe I'll take you out some time," grinned Connor, glad that Allie was so happy with her improvement. He looked to Fred to add some words of encouragement but her gaze rested on Wesley, watching as he packed away his own weapons. Connor coughed loudly and Fred snapped out of her dream-world, turning to look at Allie.

"Yeah," she said, "Getting out there is the best thing, and nobody wants to be left at home while everyone else is out having demon fun,"

"Speak for yourself, Princess," said Lorne, following Gunn into the room through the side doors. He was carrying a large white box which he placed on the reception counter with a smile.

"I though only Cordy was out shopping," sneered Connor, smiling to himself.

"No, the men go too. Bought a present for our newest feature," said Gunn, smiling at Allie. She hopped down from Connor's knee and ran her hands over the box, looking up at Gunn and grinning. "Go ahead," Allie slipped the lid of the box off and brushed back the tissue paper, lying amid black crepe paper was a shining new hunting axe just like Gunn's.

"Oh my God, it's beautiful," she exclaimed, taking it out and admiring the workmanship. "I don't know how to thank you,"

"That smile is thanks enough," smiled Lorne.

"C'mon, let's go try it out," said Gunn. Allie nodded excitedly before kissing Connor briefly and running down to the basement with Gunn.

"Is she really ready, Wes?" asked Connor, Wesley walked over to the reception desk to join everyone else.

"She's as ready as any of us were when we started out," he said softly. "She can start the night watch but not alone, she needs to kill a few times before she's ready. It'll be a shock to the system," Connor nodded but still looked concerned, a part of him had hoped this day would never come. Things would be so much easier if Allie stayed at home night after night and Connor remained her protector and nothing would change. Allie's newfound independence might mean the end of their relationship.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, stop thinking about it," said Fred, mistaking Connor's frown as a leftover of their conversation. He managed a half-hearted smile in return before running up to his bedroom to consider the future of him and Allie.


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Connor sat on the sofa outside Angel's office with his head in his hands and his heart in his mouth. He had successfully avoided taking Allie out on night watch for three nights in a row but it was time and he was dreading the thought of it. He had never confided in his father before but Connor knew that he would be the only one to understand his reasoning. He stood up and walked in without knocking and collapsed into the chair opposite his father, sighing loudly. Angel was pretending to read through the mounds of paper scattered across his desk but Connor noticed the glazed look of boredom, maybe Fred and Wesley were the only ones who enjoyed the research.

"What are you up to?" asked Angel.

"Nothing," shrugged Connor. "I'm taking Allie out with me tonight, first kill and all that,"

"Sounds good, Wes said that she was ready, she sounds quite excited about it," said Angel, Connor sighed and leaned back in his chair. "So, why aren't you excited for her?"

"I'm just being stupid…"

"Try me,"

"I don't want her out there. I took her away from that world and now I'm letting it back into her life. I didn't want that to happen to her, I just want her to be safe and live a normal life,"

"Connor, her father is a demon; she's probably got a million of questions about where she came from. Her boyfriend is officially a year old and she lives with a vampire and a bunch of demon-hunters; you can't give her a normal life,"

"Okay, fine," conceded Connor, smiling at the picture Angel had painted of their lives. It was all true, that was what made it so funny. "But why does she have to be involved? I mean, we could let her know about her heritage and stuff but that doesn't mean she has to kill anything. Gunn and Lorne bought her an axe; not a bunch of flowers or something, a goddamn axe,"

"I know, I heard. I thought it was a nice gesture myself but… Look, Connor, you need to let her be her own person. She's part demon, that means that she has powers she doesn't know about yet, she's a lot stronger than you give her credit for,"

"I just thought I could make things right," he sighed.

"You have, you got her away from a bad situation and she's settled in with us. You did the best thing for her but now you have to let her live a little, you can't protect her forever. She's your girlfriend, not your child,"

"I know," sighed Connor, pouting slightly at the fact that Angel was right. He had to let Allie live her own life; he couldn't hold her back because he was worried about her. He stood up and walked across to the door, Angel was about to go back to the paperwork when Connor turned to face him. "Thanks Dad,"

"It's okay," smiled Angel, Connor nodded and walked out.

Allie walked slightly behind Connor as they entered the dark alleyway, her fingers were playing with the handle of her axe but she knew she couldn't draw it out yet. She couldn't stop smiling, after weeks of training she was finally out in the killing fields and she couldn't wait. Connor was quieter than normal, his attuned sense of smell was leading them in the direction they needed to go but Allie was worried that something else was bothering him. She didn't want to ask about it now; she knew he would only get exasperated that she was bringing their personal life to work.

"You ready?" he whispered, Allie nodded and smiled at him. "It's vamps, only a few. You can use your axe if you want but just a simple beating and staking will be fine too,"

"I'm ready," said Allie, taking a wooden stake from her jeans pocket. Connor nodded and ran around the corner; Allie followed him and found herself surrounded by vamps. Connor was already punching and kicking his way through the crowds, dust was flying everywhere but Allie felt overwhelmed. One of the vampires ran towards her, knocking her off balance but she jumped up almost immediately, her adrenaline kicking in as she punched the vampire in the face and the stomach before driving the stake hard into his chest and grinning as he disappeared into a cloud of dust. Soon enough, Connor and Allie stood alone both out of breath and smiling.

"You're a natural," said Connor, kissing her on the cheek.

"Thanks," she smiled.

They headed out into the city and somehow found more vampires than usual, even Connor was surprised, especially with his lack of action the last few times he had been out hunting. His worries about Allie had softened though; she was highly competent when it came to vampires. He had no worries with leaving her behind him when he attacked the leader of the group, she could more than hold her own amongst the demons. It was towards the end of the night that Connor began to pick up on a strange scent that he couldn't place, it worried him but it was nearly sunlight so he and Allie headed back for the hotel. Less than a block away, Connor was just rounding a corner when he began to smell it again; it was almost like Chinese spices mixed with the faint smell of death. His concentration was distracted by Allie's screams; he spun around to see her surrounded by five monk-like figures; each was dressed in brown robes and holding her back as one moved towards Connor.

He flew at the monk; attacking with his fists and feet but nothing worked, the monk was far too fast and Connor found himself on the floor. He looked up at Allie as she withdrew her axe and began to attack the others but there were too many surrounding her, all with lightning speed reflexes. It wasn't long before Allie was attacked by all five monks who kicked and punched her to the ground. Connor was breathless with exertion and pain but he knew he had to get up and help Allie, she was lying still but the monks weren't leaving her side.

"Allie?" he said softly as he stood up to the tall robed figure, she groaned in response and it was all the ammunition he needed. He deftly kicked the monk and swung around him, grabbing Allie and dragging her up before running away from the alley and towards the hotel as fast as he could go.

Angel was still up and reading over his paperwork when Connor burst through the double doors carrying Allie in his arms; she was bleeding badly from a cut in her side but she was still conscious and it didn't look fatal. Connor lowered her gently onto the circular sofa and rushed the doors, checking if they had been followed. Angel rushed to Allie's side to ensure that she was okay before joining Connor at the door.

"What happened?" he asked the concern evident in his voice.

"I don't know, we were jumped by these weird monk-looking guys," explained Connor, returning to Allie who was wincing at the pain running up and down her body. "They attacked from nowhere; they were really strong and really fast. I couldn't see their faces but they smelt like demons; they were wearing long brown robes and didn't speak,"

"They sound familiar," said Wesley, appearing from the unlit corridor. He was unshaven and still fully dressed; Connor doubted he had even attempted to sleep.

"I agree," said Angel. "They sound like the Mishu,"

"Who are they?" asked Allie.

"Ancient priests of the highest order; destined to kill the impossible," said Wesley. "Which would explain why they attacked you,"

"What?" said Connor.

"You are the son of two vampires, you shouldn't be here. Your existence is a biological impossibility. It sounds as if they were there for you, Connor,"


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

It didn't take long to rouse the hotel, nobody slept soundly anymore. Gunn was anxiously waiting to get out on the streets and start kicking some ass but Wesley and Angel were discussing battle tactics while Connor bandaged Allie's side. Fred watched him from her usual seat behind reception, smiling softly at Connor's tenderness towards Allie. Cordelia wandered around the room, her arms folded and her face angry; she thought the Powers would have given her some kind of sign that Connor and Allie would be in danger but she had felt nothing.

"I'll be down in a minute," announced Connor, standing to help Allie get up and climb the staircase. She moved slowly with her hand cradling her injured side but Connor supported her weight and helped her to their room.

"I feel fine, I'd rather come with you," she sighed as Connor pulled the sheets over her. "I don't need to go to bed,"

"You're injured, I don't want you out there," said Connor softly. "I can't protect you against those guys,"

"I don't need you to protect me," said Allie, sitting up and ignoring the pain shooting up her body as she pushed the sheets back.

"Tell that to your bleeding wound," he said sharply, pushing Allie's shoulder until she had to lie back down. "Just stay here and heal,"

"You can't tell me what to do, Connor. You're not my father,"

"Allie, just shut up and listen for once. You are too hurt to go back out there, just stay here and get some rest," he snapped, shouting angrily. Allie glared at him, feeling the tears springing to her eyes. She rolled over and blinked them away angrily, Connor sighed guiltily and walked over to the bed, stroking her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her but it was too late.

"Just get out," she hissed, crying even more as Connor slammed the door behind him.

"How is she?" asked Cordelia as Connor ran down the staircase and into the gang.

"Let's go," he said, grabbing Allie's axe and ignoring Cordelia's question. Nobody needed telling twice, the entire team walked out of the hotel leaving Lorne to care for Allie with songs and a Sea Breeze.

Connor picked up the monks' trail almost immediately with help from Angel. They were heading towards a large disused building in the Chinese quarter; an area not unknown for its mystical links but Angel was surprised that the monks would have chosen this part of LA as their hiding place. The Chinese quarter was renowned for its lack of tolerance when it came to violence; especially demonic violence that could be avoided by a charm. Angel decided that he could deal with the Chinese later; he needed to find the Mishu before they found Connor but the closer they got to the huge, dark building, the more Cordelia was feeling sick to her stomach. Gunn stopped outside the building despite every fibre of his being wanting to break through the front door and start slicing.

"What is it, Cordy?" asked Fred, sitting down next to her on the steps of the building.

"Danger," breathed Cordelia. "All I can see is danger,"

"I have to go in, Cordy. I want these guys," said Connor, stepping up to Gunn's side.

"Then go," she sighed. "Just be careful," Connor nodded and without a thought, kicked the front door down.

"Fred, Cordy; you stay here. If any monks run out then do what you can," smiled Angel, Fred nodded and lifted her sword slightly as if to punctuate his point.

Angel, Wesley, Gunn and Connor walked slowly and silently up the corridor, listening for movement and looking for any light. The house was as black as the night outside but each of them had grown accustomed to hunting in the dark and as far as they were concerned, they had the upper hand right now. As they headed towards the back of the building, Angel's vampire senses kicked in and he heard voices; he looked to Connor to back him up, making sure he wasn't the only one.

"Chanting?" whispered Angel, Connor nodded and pointed upwards. Gunn and Wesley looked up but neither of them could hear anything, knowing better than to question Angel's preternatural senses they headed for the dilapidated staircase. A flicker of candlelight was clearly visible through an open door at the top of the stairs, the gang spared no time as they charged up and into the room to begin the attack.

The monks were sitting in a circle around the three lit candles but on the gang's entry to the room, they all flew up into the air landing on their feet. Gunn looked across at Angel; this fight was going to be a tough one, he launched across the room brandishing his axe and began to fight the nearest monk. The others followed suit and soon the room was filled with the sound of battle; punches and kicks were landed with perfect precision while Gunn and Connor slashed at their enemy with the axes they carried. Angel grabbed one of the monks and lifted him into the air, slamming in down onto the candles; his robes caught fire almost immediately and everyone watched in shock as the burning monk ran for the window and threw himself out of it. There wasn't any time to ask questions, Angel headed for the next one and punched him hard in the face. Wesley had drawn his knife from his belt and had begun slashing at anyone who came near him; he was slightly confused, they had killed quite a few of the monks now but there seemed to be more than when they had barged into the room. He looked around for Gunn and Angel but both were caught up with their own fights; Gunn was in a fist fight with one while Angel and another monk were showing off their martial arts technique, Wesley looked around the room again but he couldn't see Connor anywhere. He reasoned that he must have ran after a few monks that had escaped the room but something was wrong and he knew it, there was no time for conjecture though and he returned to his slicing and dicing of evil.

A low, deep sound filled the room at that moment and everyone stopped fighting, looking up and around for the source of the sound. One of the monks began to laugh, a deep throaty sound and suddenly, the room was filled with a thick black smoke. Angel couldn't see through it, he reached out vainly for anything to hold on to but there was nothing there.

"Wes?" he called.

"I'm here, I can't see anything," he called back. "I think it's clearing though,"

They stood in silence for a few minutes and as quickly as it had appeared, the smoke was gone and Angel, Wesley and Gunn stood alone in the room.

"Where the hell did they go?" asked Gunn.

"Where the hell is Connor?" growled Angel.

Lorne and Allie were playing card games on the reception desk when the heroes returned; Lorne was the first the notice the downtrodden look on everyone's face but it was Allie who noticed that they had returned minus Connor. She stood up slowly and walked over to Angel; he looked down at her with a deep sadness in his eyes and stroked her face before walking into his office and slamming the door shut behind him.

"Where is he?" asked Allie, tears threateningly close. Cordelia sighed, her eyes were already red-rimmed with crying and she sat exhaustedly on the sofa. Fred put her arm around Allie and tried to hold her close but Allie pushed her off. "Where is he?"

"We don't know, he was taken by the Mishu Order. We didn't even realise until it was all over," said Wesley, staring at the floor and unable to meet Allie's questioning glare.

"This is wrong; you can't have just left him with a bunch of demons, why would you do that?" screamed Allie, Fred moved forward to comfort her again but Allie spun away from her. "How could you do this to me? Connor was the only thing I had left; everything I love is gone, everything!"

"Allie, calm down. We'll get him back," soothed Fred, Gunn looked worriedly at Wesley; they hadn't even thought that far ahead yet.

"How can I calm down? Everyone I love is taken away from me; first Frankie and now Connor. What did I do?" she cried, falling to the floor in a flood of tears. Fred and Cordelia both rushed to their knees to comfort her and help her up the stairs to her room.

"She's right," said Wesley. "How could we not even notice that he had gone?"

"Because we were fighting for our lives," said Angel, appearing in his office doorway, his eyes blazing with anger. "But now, we're going to make sure the evil sons of bitches that took my son are going to die a slow, bloody death,"


	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five

It had been three days since Connor had been taken, Allie's manic hysteria after he had gone had calmed down since everyone had started working towards finding him and bringing him back. Lorne had gone to see one of his sage friends the day before to find a Vashnik stone and the gang were eagerly awaiting his return; the Vashnik stone was alleged to be the only way to perform a locator spell on the Mishu Order who used powerful charms to hide their whereabouts at all times. Cordelia had finally managed to tap into her visions but she couldn't see where Connor had been taken; only that he was still alive. Gunn and Wesley had been out gathering the remaining ingredients for the locator spell so now all anyone could do was wait for Lorne to return from his visit.

"Shouldn't he be back by now?" asked Allie anxiously. She was sitting on the sofa flicking through an Assyrian text on religious orders and not paying any attention to it at all.

"He'll be back soon, he shouldn't be long now," smiled Cordelia, Allie smiled back at her and nodded. She had begun to feel a little more confident about finding Connor and getting him back now that they had formed a plan.

"Not long at all, Princess," grinned Lorne as he walked through the glass double doors at the back of the hotel. Fred laughed and ran over to him, hugging him tightly. "Now that's the kind of welcome a demon could get used to,"

"Did you get it?" asked Angel gravely, focusing on the task at hand rather than the welcome return of Lorne. He nodded and handed Angel a folded brown cloth, he smiled as he unwrapped it to find a deep red stone lying in the centre. "Right, let's get to it,"

Wesley gathered the other supplies and laid them out on the reception desk while Gunn scrabbled about underneath the desk for a road map of LA. He opened it out fully over the desk as Wesley lit incense and candles and Angel placed the Vashnik stone over the position of the hotel on the map. Wesley mumbled a few words in a language that nobody recognised and the stone began to glow red and shift slightly on the map. Fred looked on in excitement as the stone continued to shake slightly and move up the map, Allie smiled as the plan came to fruition and the glowing red stone shot across the map and stopped on a one way street deep in the Chinese quarter.

"Why would they go back to Chinatown?" asked Gunn, a frown advertising his confusion.

"These Mishu obviously have some sort of Oriental background," started Wesley.

"Who cares? Let's go," said Allie, the determination set in her voice. Angel was about to tell her that she was staying when he caught sight of that glint in her eyes, it was the exact same look he got when the mission was something he cared about.

"Okay," said Angel. "Everyone saddle up, we're going in and we're getting Connor back,"

"The Mishu Order is very proud. If they lose Connor back to us then it is unlikely they'll fight for him; they will move on rather than admit defeat. They prefer to ignore their failures," said Wesley as he gathered his weapons.

"That's good but I'm still shooting to kill," grinned Gunn.

"Me too," said Allie. "So, can we go now?"

"Yeah, let's move," said Angel.

The location marked by the Vashnik stone on the map was almost identical to the house the Mishu had been holed up in when Angel and the gang first attacked. Angel wasted no time with small talk this time round, instead he burst in through the front door and headed up the staircase straight away. Light was pouring from one of the rooms and Angel burst straight through the door, everyone following him. The room was practically empty, Connor was chained to the wall half-naked and beaten; his chest and face were smeared with his own blood and his eyes were barely open.

"I think he's drugged," said Fred, running over and lifting Connor's eyelids to look at his pupils. "He's heavily sedated, I'm gonna need a hand," Cordelia ran over and used her axe to chop through Connor's chains; he fell to the floor but Fred and Cordelia helped him to his feet. He moaned slightly as they dropped him again, both had looked up to come face to face with the room filled with the Mishu.

"Don't wait for them," shouted Angel, spinning on his heel and punching a Mishu in the face sending him flying to the floor. Following Angel's lead, everyone began to fight back, ignoring the huge mass of monks that seemed to be coming through the door, the window and from the floors; they were just appearing every time another was killed. Allie was in a zone, Connor had been hurt and it was time for revenge, no matter how low a reason it was to kill. She raised her axe and chopped into a Mishu's back, sending him coughing to the floor, Allie smiled as she spun around and kicked another monk that was coming up behind her. She had definitely learned a lot since joining the team at Angel Investigations, she looked over to Gunn who was getting stuck in with his axe, Wesley was slicing into monks with his knives while Fred and Cordelia were both doing fine with their swords and axes. It was the first time she felt like part of the team. Angel kicked another of the Mishu in the face before punching the one behind him and rushed over to where Connor was lying behind Fred and Cordelia. He lifted him up onto his shoulders and looked back at the team.

"I'm taking Connor now," he shouted, Wesley called back some kind of confirmation that was lost amidst the screams of pain and grunts of exertion. Angel nodded and kicked the glass out of the window before leaping through it and landing deftly onto the bins below. He lay Connor down in the back seat of the car and sped away to the hotel.

At the sight of Angel jumping from the building with their prize on his back, the monks stopped fighting and rushed to the window just in time to see Angel land and drive away. They turned to each other and spoke in a strange guttural dialect, clicking and whirring their tongues. Everyone looked at Wesley to decipher it or at least recognise it but his confusion was as evident as everyone else. The Mishu looked back at the gang, bleeding from various wounds and trying to get their breath back, the monk turned back and spoke again. Allie was getting anxious and stepped forward to launch another attack but Wesley held her back as the leader of the order stepped forward, bowed and threw a small stone at the floor. The small room was filled with the same thick black smoke as their previous altercation and Cordelia was thankful that Fred was standing right beside her in the blackness.

"Nobody panic, it'll clear in a few minutes and we can clear out," said Gunn loudly, Wesley smiled at his ease of movement into the position of leader after Angel's departure.

"I really wish I'd killed some more of those guys," growled Allie, her voice sounding low and dangerous in the black, she was unsatisfied with the fight but relieved that Connor was safe.

"I know, me too," said Gunn. "But we got what we came for and that's what's important, right?"

Angel and Lorne were sitting at the reception desk waiting when the gang walked in through the double doors. Connor was sitting upright on the sofa, his eyes were still bleary and red but he was awake. Allie dropped her axe to the floor at the sight of him and ran over, throwing her arms around him and holding him tightly. Angel watched their reunion with a smile, the ache in his heart forcing him to look across at Cordelia; she was already looking at him with a smile on her face.

"What happened?" asked Angel, looking to Wesley for an update but it was Gunn who stepped forward.

"After they saw Connor was gone they dumped that smoke and high-tailed it outta there," he grinned, Wesley nodded in agreement and Angel slapped them both on the back in triumph. "We didn't get any of them after you left but we got what we went in there for,"

Angel nodded and walked across the room, sitting down next to Connor and smiling at Allie. She left Connor's side silently and joined Fred and Lorne at reception; everyone was watching Angel and his son but attempting to look as if they weren't and failing miserably. Angel knew what they were doing but he didn't care, he had to talk to Connor and he didn't care who heard what he had to say.

"You okay?" he whispered, Connor coughed a little and nodded. "Good. Look Connor, I know I promised to stay off your back and let you live but you can't keep running off alone. I want you to be more careful on patrol from now on; I can't lose you again,"

"I'm sorry, Dad," croaked Connor. "Is Allie okay?"

"Yeah, she was amazing. I've never seen anyone fight like that on their first time out, she kicked ass,"

"Can you get her over here?" he whispered, Angel smiled and nodded and left Connor's side, looking over at Allie and gesturing for her to take his place on the sofa. He walked over to Cordelia and casually placed his hand on her arm; she looked up at him and smiled, from that one touch she knew everything Angel wanted to say to her. Allie grinned from ear to ear and practically jumped over the desk to join Connor; she placed a hand on his knee and squeezed gently.

"I'm sorry I was such a bitch to you before. I just wanted to get out with everyone," she said.

"I was going to apologise," laughed Connor, cradling his side as his body rocked with laughter. "Dad told me you were pretty lethal in there," Allie blushed and looked over at Angel. "I'm just glad that you're okay, I'm sorry I didn't trust in you. I should've known you were ready to get out there,"

"Look, how about we're both sorry and we're both forgiven. I'm just glad that you're back and you're okay," smiled Allie. "Can I get you anything?"

"No, I just wanna go to bed and sleep for a week," he grinned; Allie nodded and helped him to stand from the sofa. Angel and Cordelia rushed over to help but Connor waved them away and said goodnight before climbing the staircase, leaning on Allie.

"You think he's okay?" asked Cordelia, watching the young couple disappear.

"I think he's fine," said Angel, reaching down for Cordelia's hand. "I think everything's going to be fine,"

THE END


End file.
